I have been reading countless articles on the Yankees' A-Rod and at one point they all mention something like "A-Rod, who was booed loudly by Yankee fans". And my question is: what the hell? Are these people serious? They have probably one of the best talents ever to play the game of baseball in their lineup and playing out of position for them, someone who is probably going to break Barroid's HR record (and not just break, demolish it). They have all this and people are booing? FedEx227 even told me that during a Yankees broadcast, one of the announcers said that A-Rod is one of the worst clutch hitters he has seen! Give me a break.

Eddo144

09-02-2008, 12:39 PM

I don't disagree with you, Lefty.

Point of evidence:
Rodriguez's slash line this year: .309/.395/.579. In only 117 games, he has 29 HR.

Jeter's slash line this year: .296/.356/.400. In 129, he has 8 HR.

Willie Harris is hitting .258/.347/.444 with 12 HR in 121 games. That's right: this year, the Yankees would be better off with Willie Harris instead of Derek Jeter.

Just pure speculation, but I'd be fairly confident Jeter is not beeing booed by the Yankee faithful.

EDIT: If you want to look at SS (it's debatable whether you could drop in Willie Harris at SS), Christian Guzman's line is .308/.336/.422. He has 6 HR in 120 games. Christian Guzman is outslugging Derek Jeter this year, and having a roughly equivalent season overall.

D. TODD

09-02-2008, 12:42 PM

99% of the time I think fans booing their own team just show how STUPID the fans are. This is certainly one of those cases with idiot fans booing ARod in New York.

CashMan

09-02-2008, 12:45 PM

I don't disagree with you, Lefty.

Point of evidence:
Rodriguez's slash line this year: .309/.395/.579. In only 117 games, he has 29 HR.

Jeter's slash line this year: .296/.356/.400. In 129, he has 8 HR.

Willie Harris is hitting .258/.347/.444 with 12 HR in 121 games. That's right: this year, the Yankees would be better off with Willie Harris instead of Derek Jeter.

Just pure speculation, but I'd be fairly confident Jeter is not beeing booed by the Yankee faithful.

EDIT: If you want to look at SS (it's debatable whether you could drop in Willie Harris at SS), Christian Guzman's line is .308/.336/.422. He has 6 HR in 120 games. Christian Guzman is outslugging Derek Jeter this year, and having a roughly equivalent season overall.

Jeter is the face of the Yankmees, he wont be booed. But for Arod, when you are getting paid like $30mill a year, you should be putting MVP numbers, you should be either 1 or 2 in most offensive categories. If we were paying Konerko $30mill to do what he is doing atm, how many people would be booing?

doublem23

09-02-2008, 01:13 PM

They're not going to get off A-Rod's back until he brings home a World Series.

kjhanson

09-02-2008, 01:19 PM

I posted this a while back, and I think it's worth posting again: A-Rod is padding his stats when the game is out of reach, and his performance has been just mediocre otherwise.

When the score differential is greater than 4 runs, he's hitting an incredible .414/.485/1.347. Those are absolutely legendary numbers. Absolutely outstanding. When the score of the game tightens to within 2 runs, he's .285/.386/.881. Yes, his OPS is .466 higher when the game has already been decided. With RISP he's a pathetic .255/.398/.806, which puts his OPS a mere .073 above Paul Konerko in the same situation, and astonishingly, .134 below Munchman's favorite whipping boy, Nick Swisher, who goes .256/.407/.940 with RISP.

I originally researched these figures after someone noted that A-Rod should be at the top of AL-MVP consideration. That claim became even more laughable as I dug deeper. Your real MVP, TCQ, is .311/.430/.984 with RISP and posts a .946 OPS when the game is within two runs and a .933 OPS when the game is nearly decided (>4 run difference).

Eddo144

09-02-2008, 01:24 PM

Jeter is the face of the Yankmees, he wont be booed. But for Arod, when you are getting paid like $30mill a year, you should be putting MVP numbers, you should be either 1 or 2 in most offensive categories. If we were paying Konerko $30mill to do what he is doing atm, how many people would be booing?
Derek Jeter made $21.6 million last year, and has been a top-3 salary in the AL the last three years (and was fourth the previous three years). By your logic, Jeter should most definitely be booed.

Lefty34

09-02-2008, 01:44 PM

I posted this a while back, and I think it's worth posting again: A-Rod is padding his stats when the game is out of reach, and his performance has been just mediocre otherwise.

When the score differential is greater than 4 runs, he's hitting an incredible .414/.485/1.347. Those are absolutely legendary numbers. Absolutely outstanding. When the score of the game tightens to within 2 runs, he's .285/.386/.881. Yes, his OPS is .466 higher when the game has already been decided. With RISP he's a pathetic .255/.398/.806, which puts his OPS a mere .073 above Paul Konerko in the same situation, and astonishingly, .134 below Munchman's favorite whipping boy, Nick Swisher, who goes .256/.407/.940 with RISP.

I originally researched these figures after someone noted that A-Rod should be at the top of AL-MVP consideration. That claim became even more laughable as I dug deeper. Your real MVP, TCQ, is .311/.430/.984 with RISP and posts a .946 OPS when the game is within two runs and a .933 OPS when the game is nearly decided (>4 run difference).

I agree with you that TCQ is the real AL MVP candidate (I don't care how much coke Hamilton did), but for different reasons. The thing I really hate is that people get on A-Rod for not being "clutch", but when you look at some of the numbers, he is putting up higher marks than Jeter. With men on and 2 out, Jeter has a line of .266/.333/.367 with an OPS of .700. Meanwhile A-Rod has a line of .297/.432/.505 with an OPS of .937! Quentin has the same OPS as A-Rod in the same situation, as well. Finally, Quentin and A-Rod have almost the same OPS, .876 for Quentin and .871 for A-Rod, with RISP and 2 outs.

And did you happen to look at Quentin's numbers given run differentials? In AB's when the team is up more than 4 runs, he is batting .290/.383/.551 with an OPS of .933, but in 2-run ballgames he is batting .284/.396/.550 with an OPS of .946. Granted, TCQ does not have the difference, really, in his batting numbers that A-Rod does, but the two have similar OBP's, the only difference being SLG. I don't know if I'd call that laughable.

CashMan

09-02-2008, 01:50 PM

Derek Jeter made $21.6 million last year, and has been a top-3 salary in the AL the last three years (and was fourth the previous three years). By your logic, Jeter should most definitely be booed.

Is Arod the face of the Yankees? Did Arod win multiple titles with the Yankees? What logic is that? Did you miss Arod opting out of his HUGE contact, and resigning for even more money from the Yanks? Jeter is a home grown talent, who has won, he won't get booed. Jeter could be paid $40mill a year put up the same numbers he is putting up now, and not get booed. Arod was brought in to put up great numbers, currently he is putting up good numbers.

Lefty34

09-02-2008, 02:15 PM

Is Arod the face of the Yankees? Did Arod win multiple titles with the Yankees? What logic is that? Did you miss Arod opting out of his HUGE contact, and resigning for even more money from the Yanks? Jeter is a home grown talent, who has won, he won't get booed. Jeter could be paid $40mill a year put up the same numbers he is putting up now, and not get booed. Arod was brought in to put up great numbers, currently he is putting up good numbers.

Good? .309/.395/.579 with an OPS+ of 155 and 29 HR's is just good? How about this, do you remember when A-Rod, a clearly superior defensive SS, bowed out and moved to 3B for the sake of preserving your home-grown talent's ego? Not to mention that same home-grown talent has been proven to be one of the worst defensive SS in the league.

kjhanson

09-02-2008, 02:17 PM

The thing I really hate is that people get on A-Rod for not being "clutch", but when you look at some of the numbers, he is putting up higher marks than Jeter. With men on and 2 out, Jeter has a line of .266/.333/.367 with an OPS of .700. Meanwhile A-Rod has a line of .297/.432/.505 with an OPS of .937! Quentin has the same OPS as A-Rod in the same situation, as well. Finally, Quentin and A-Rod have almost the same OPS, .876 for Quentin and .871 for A-Rod, with RISP and 2 outs.

And did you happen to look at Quentin's numbers given run differentials? In AB's when the team is up more than 4 runs, he is batting .290/.383/.551 with an OPS of .933, but in 2-run ballgames he is batting .284/.396/.550 with an OPS of .946. Granted, TCQ does not have the difference, really, in his batting numbers that A-Rod does, but the two have similar OBP's, the only difference being SLG. I don't know if I'd call that laughable.

Wait, so A-Rod hits well with 2 outs and a guy on first in the 3rd inning. That's great; I'm real happy for him. But the man has a .616 OPS in the 8th inning and a .697 OPS in the 9th inning! How is that NOT being "not clutch"? He's afraid of the dark or something. And he's even more afraid of the dark on the road, where his BA is 59 points lower, his SLG is 187 points lower and his OPS is 223 points lower. Meanwhile, Carlos has very similar numbers at home and on the road. If you still think A-Rod is clutch, you certainly can't call him consistent.

Good? .309/.395/.579 with an OPS+ of 155 and 29 HR's is just good? How about this, do you remember when A-Rod, a clearly superior defensive SS, bowed out and moved to 3B for the sake of preserving your home-grown talent's ego? Not to mention that same home-grown talent has been proven to be one of the worst defensive SS in the league.

What are you trying to argue, you seem to be defending Arod, and I could care less about him? I am discussing why fans are booing him and you seem to be defending him from me bashing him(which I am not)?

DSpivack

09-02-2008, 02:30 PM

I believe he a set a team record in August for most GIDPs. That's not something to be proud of.

kjhanson

09-02-2008, 02:39 PM

I believe he a set a team record in August for most GIDPs. That's not something to be proud of.

Yes, and somehow it was worthy enough to make it onto the Bottom Line on ESPN. When he's going good, he's their love-child, and when he's going bad, they love to highlight his deficiencies.

Should he be getting booed? Hell no. He's the best player on their team by a wide margin. In my opinion, this is his worst offensive year, simply because of the lack of consistency and the lack of "clutchness" that I highlighted earlier. Those Yankee fans have been so damn spoiled, though, that I like seeing them frustrated and booing, regardless of who's receiving it.

Adele_H

09-02-2008, 04:04 PM

I don't disagree with you, Lefty.

Point of evidence:
Rodriguez's slash line this year: .309/.395/.579. In only 117 games, he has 29 HR.

Jeter's slash line this year: .296/.356/.400. In 129, he has 8 HR.

Willie Harris is hitting .258/.347/.444 with 12 HR in 121 games. That's right: this year, the Yankees would be better off with Willie Harris instead of Derek Jeter.

Just pure speculation, but I'd be fairly confident Jeter is not beeing booed by the Yankee faithful.

EDIT: If you want to look at SS (it's debatable whether you could drop in Willie Harris at SS), Christian Guzman's line is .308/.336/.422. He has 6 HR in 120 games. Christian Guzman is outslugging Derek Jeter this year, and having a roughly equivalent season overall.

There is hitting and then there is, um, hitting. If you know what I mean, and I think you do.:bandance:

And where it matters most, Jeter is out-*hitting* those jabronis by a mile.

:)

Konerko05

09-02-2008, 04:31 PM

There is hitting and then there is, um, hitting. If you know what I mean, and I think you do.:bandance:

And where it matters most, Jeter is out-*hitting* those jabronis by a mile.

:)

You mean like Jessica Biel, Mariah Carey, Jessica Alba?

Lefty34

09-02-2008, 04:56 PM

Wait, so A-Rod hits well with 2 outs and a guy on first in the 3rd inning. That's great; I'm real happy for him. But the man has a .616 OPS in the 8th inning and a .697 OPS in the 9th inning! How is that NOT being "not clutch"? He's afraid of the dark or something. And he's even more afraid of the dark on the road, where his BA is 59 points lower, his SLG is 187 points lower and his OPS is 223 points lower. Meanwhile, Carlos has very similar numbers at home and on the road. If you still think A-Rod is clutch, you certainly can't call him consistent.

Ok well the sample sizes in those splits were getting a little bit too small for me so I went looking at both A-Rod and Quentin's career batting splits. For his career, Quentin is batting .307/.415/.542 with a .958 OPS. A-Rod is batting .303/.403/.542 with an OPS of .955 with RISP for his career.